>> From the Library of
Congress in Washington, DC.
>> It's now my pleasure to
introduce Laura and Peter Zeranski
who are going to discuss
their cookbook,
Polish Classic Desserts .
And in this cookbook, as well
as their earlier cookbook,
Polish Classic Recipes
, they are dedicated
to preserving traditional
family recipes,
at the same time updating
them for today's cook.
And I think their audience is
both for people who are familiar
with Polish traditional
cooking, as well as those
who might be new to this cuisine.
And as I can tell you in looking
through this cookbook the
desserts are fabulous.
They're just really fabulous
and there's nothing not
to like in this cookbook.
So, I was told to keep it short.
So, on that note, I'll let Laura
and Peter start their presentation.
Thank you.
>> Peter Zeranski: Well if you
haven't figured it out yet,
I'm Peter and that's Laura.
Very important, we're going to
begin with a little Polish lesson.
And I'm going to teach you two
of the most important phrases
that you'll ever want to
know if you go to Poland
or if you don't go to Poland.
The first one is about being polite,
and the second one I'll
let you figure it out.
So, repeat after me.
[ Speaking Foreign Language ]
Not bad.
[ Speaking Foreign Language ]
Good, that means thank you.
That's the polite part.
Now the next word.
[ Speaking Foreign Language ]
See, she knows.
She's laughing.
It means give me a kiss.
That may be the most important
thing that you'll ever need to know.
So, we're not chefs but we're
constantly asked how we got into,
you know, how we got into this
business of writing cookbooks.
And truthfully it was
really just a matter
of coincidence, timing,
and great luck.
>> Laura Zeranski: And five
years ago if someone had asked us
where we would be we couldn't
in our wildest dreams have said
that we'd author two cookbooks that
were selling all over the world
and were tweeting, and blogging, and
Twittering, and all of this stuff.
And were going to Polish
festivals all over the area,
up and down the East Coast.
And we listened to a lot of Polka
music as we do these festivals
and it's all very loud,
so by the time you come
out you need ear plugs.
>> Peter Zeranski: I looked up
our books on Amazon one time
and it's a real hoot to see
a Polish cookbook written
up in Japanese characters
on Amazon Japan.
Something doesn't quite compute.
>> Laura Zeranski: And
this year we were blessed
that our dessert book won an award
by Gourmand Magazine as the
Best European Cookbook in the USA.
>> Peter Zeranski: So, the
way we got into this is
that my mom wrote a very
iconic Polish cookbook,
some of you may have seen it,
The Art of Polish Cooking .
And she wrote this in 1968.
And I was 18 and I actually --
since English wasn't her
first language I got to --
at the age of 18, I got to edit
the entire book from cover to cover
and try to correct
the language mistakes.
But I didn't know anything
about cooking, I was in a hurry,
my mind was on other things as
you might imagine at age 18.
But the book was published, it
has survived, it still sells,
and you know, about twice a
year, thank you Mom, you know,
we get a little check
and that's kind of cool.
My background really
is not all that unique.
I'm the one who really grew
up Polish in this family,
but it's not that unique.
My parents both fought
in the war, World War II.
My mom was in the Warsaw
Underground.
My dad was an officer
in the Polish Calvary,
and the Calvary didn't last very
long, you know, against German tanks
and he ended up most of the war in
an officer's prisoner of war camp.
But after the war they met
in a displaced person's camp
in what was then Germany,
used to be Poland,
wasn't quite sure what the
borders, you know, were like.
But they met in this
displaced person's camp, again,
because they had known
each other before the war.
They got married and after
a while I came along.
And at the age of two we moved
to Canada and then when I was
about in the sixth grade
we moved to Pittsburgh.
Every morning my mother
had me studying Polish.
I tell you, I hated it.
You know, she would sit me down
and we would read literature
and I'd learn grammar and
we kept up the language
because we kept speaking
Polish at home.
And I guess up until my early teens
I'm told I still had an accent.
But now since I've
lived in different parts
of the country that's pretty
much gone -- ya'll [laughter].
So anyway, I didn't really learn
to appreciate my Polish-ness until,
you know, a lot later in life after
having traveled to Poland, you know,
old enough to, you know, appreciate
the country and absolutely falling
in love with the food again.
And my mom's book was
written before the ages --
in 1968, it was before
the days of microwaves
and before standing mixers and
immersion blenders and all that,
you know -- all those
newfangled cooking tools.
So I went to -- I got this
bright idea in the shower,
where I get a lot of my best ideas.
It's hell on our water bill.
So I got this idea in the shower and
I went to her publisher and I said,
"You know, you need to update this
book, you know, for modern times."
And they said, "No,
write a new book."
You know, they gave
us a little template
and we said, "Hmm, now what?"
You know. But we did, and
that's how we got into it.
>> Laura Zeranski: And as I said
before -- Peter said before,
we're not pros, but like many
of you we've been, you know,
cooking in the kitchen for years.
I started baking and cooking
alongside my grandmother
when I was a young girl.
And we've been married
for over 40 years now,
and marrying into a Polish
family you kind of have
to learn how to cook the food.
And being that your mother-in-law's
a cookbook writer you kind
of better know what you're doing.
So anyway, I started cooking
and I made a lot of the food
and my in-laws were the critique.
You know, they'd tell -- oh, it's
this or it's that, it needs this
or it needs -- so I had all those
notes in my recipes and then
when mom -- Peter's mom died we
had her original book with all
of her handwritten changes
and notes to recipes.
So between the two of them and with
the help of some friends of ours
who are Polish descendants, they
also had a lot of family recipes,
we took all of those and
tested them and tried them out
and this is what we came up with.
>> Peter Zeranski:
So, she was the chef,
I was kind of the taster
and head dishwasher.
On some days when we
would, you know,
do dishes that were more complicated
the kitchen had more flour in it
and I had more flour on me
than, you know, in the dishes.
But we were very fortunate to
have a legacy of all these recipes
and recipes that were tested.
And Laura was very good about
getting rid of the "pinch of this"
and "pinch of that", you know, and
you know, "put a glass of milk in."
I mean, who knows how
big a pinch could be?
But every one of the
recipes has been tested.
So we have this legacy of all these
recipes and that's really I think
where the strength of the books
come from because there are
over 60 million Polish ethnic --
or folks of Polish descendants
across the country and many
of them actually do not
have access to those recipes
that [inaudible] used to prepare.
And we keep hearing all these
stories from folks that we meet
at different Polish
festivals, you know, about, "Oh,
I wish I had the recipes.
That food was so good.
I don't know how to
prepare it anymore."
Well, here it is.
You know, so we hold up the
book and we get some fans.
We've made an awful lot
of friends as we travel
to various Polish festivals
and it's kind of interesting
that they all tell us their
stories, how they grew up,
the foods that they ate with, and
there's this love and Polish-ness,
the connection with
the roots, you know,
that comes out when we
meet these, you know,
we meet all these new friends, and
they appreciate and love our books,
you know, because of that.
So, today we're really going to
talk a little bit about our food,
some customs, some Christmas and
Easter, you know, some menus,
help you understand what
the cuisine is all about.
At the end we'll answer
some of your questions
and then we'll just collapse.
>> Laura Zeranski: Okay, so
when all of you out there think
about Polish food what is the first
thing that comes to your mind?
[ Multiple Speakers ]
Pierogies.
>> Peter Zeranski: I
hear kielbasa over here.
[ Inaudible Speaker ]
Meatballs?
No, no. That's Italy.
[ Inaudible Speaker ]
>> Bagels!
>> Oh bagels.
>> Laura Zeranski: Yeah, okay.
>> Peter Zeranski: Cheesecake.
Absolutely.
Many, you know, many of the church
ladies that we meet when we go
to some of these heritage festivals
they seem to prepare mostly pierogi,
kielbasa, cabbage rolls,
you know, haluski.
>> Laura Zeranski: Cheesecake.
>> Peter Zeranski: Cheesecake.
But we're on a mission to show
that Polish cuisine
actually runs the gamut
from the country comfort food all
the way up to things that are very,
very sophisticated that
you see in the big cities.
That the recipes often borrow,
you know, flavors and techniques
from the French, from the
Italian, from the Scandinavian,
but with our own Polish flavorings.
>> Laura Zeranski: So what
makes Polish food Polish?
Well, for the savory dishes
its dill, and beets, noodles,
buckwheat groats, potatoes,
kielbasa, cucumbers, sour cream,
dried mushrooms, which Peter
buys online, lots of cabbage,
and oh, did I mention dill?
Dill and more dill.
I think it's the Polish
national herb.
>> Peter Zeranski:
Yeah, or national weed.
We grow it in our -- we
grow the dill on our deck
and it just takes over the pots.
Let's talk about mushrooms
for a minute, dried mushrooms.
I love dried mushrooms.
They're so much more flavorful than
fresh mushrooms believe it or not,
because when you rehydrate
them all the flavor
and the essence, you
know, comes out.
And I'm here to tell
you, dirt matters.
You know, because it seems to me
that the mushrooms that you can get
from Eastern Europe,
from the forests,
it just has a different
kind of flavor.
We've tried, you know, dried
mushrooms from Japan and from Italy
and it's just not the same.
I used to buy my dried mushrooms
from this farm in Bulgaria
but then capitalism
got ahold of the farmer
and it kept raising their prices,
you know, higher and higher
to the point where it
just wasn't worth it.
But buying dried mushrooms in
bulk for me still makes sense
because we use so much of it.
You know, you can go to Whole Foods,
or you can go to a Polish deli,
you know, or the Russian deli,
or you know, sources like that
in the area and you can pay,
you know, five or six bucks
for a little four ounce bag
of dried Polish mushrooms.
Well, we can get pretty
close, you know, going online.
>> Laura Zeranski: Desserts
are often less sweet than most
of our American desserts.
The torts are often flourless,
which is good for the
gluten-free folks out there.
Tall, they're stately, they're rich
in the flavors of lemon, coffee,
nuts, poppy seeds, and they
resemble the high-end French torts
that the French royalty
brought to Poland centuries ago.
The tarts and the flat cakes
showcase seasonal fruits
such as the berries
and the Italian plums
that we're seeing right now
in the farmer's markets.
>> Peter Zeranski: Yeah.
Poland's history had a very
significant impact on the cuisine.
Over the centuries Poland
fought, you know an awful lot
of different wars and if
you're familiar with, you know,
with Polish history I
think you understand
that Poles were never
known for, you know,
for being especially
successful on the battlefield.
That's kind of the
nicest way I can put it.
Poles were eaters, they were
lovers, they were full of life,
but fighters, maybe not so much.
The borders of Poland have
changed so much over the years
and as those borders changed and
as Poland shrunk, the influences
of all those neighboring
countries made a huge, you know,
influence on the Polish cuisine.
>> Laura Zeranski: Some of the
most interesting influences
on the Polish cuisine come from
the intermarriages from the kings
and queens of France and Italy.
There was a young Polish queen
who actually came from --
she was Italian, she came to Poland
and was married into a family there.
And she introduced cucumbers and
salads and the spice travelers
as they were coming through left
their powders and their seeds
as they came across Europe.
And then you had the French who left
behind their sauces and desserts.
>> Peter Zeranski: So as in most
cuisines, whether it's in the US,
you know, from North to
South, or any other country,
there's a lot of regional
differences in Polish cuisines
as well, based on, a lot of
the flavoring and the harvests
that are available locally.
The hardy country dishes based on
kielbasa and potatoes and cabbage,
you know, are based on the
farm-grown, you know harvests.
But in the big cities the cuisine
is often much lighter, you know,
with fish dishes using lemon
and dill for flavorings,
and the light sauces are
very reminiscent of some
of the sauces that
you see in France.
>> Laura Zeranski: Polish
food comes from the heart.
Poles are always offering
hospitality and a sumptuous meal
for friends and family, and food is
a huge part of holiday traditions.
And in both of our books
we tried to include recipes
that families can use to recreate
those traditions for holidays.
Christmas Eve, or Wigilia,
which means vigil,
or waiting for the birth of
Christ, begins at the light
of the first star on Christmas Eve.
>> Peter Zeranski: When I was
young in Canada, maybe five
or six years old, we still practiced
all the traditions very, you know,
very true to the way they were,
you know, first established.
And I was always hungry.
I mean, you know, I was five or six.
Always hungry, and I'd keep
running out to the porch and saying,
you know, "Where's the star?
Where's the first star?"
Because by tradition we could not
sit down to the meal until the light
of the first star was
visible in the sky.
So, I'm always, you know, I'm
always looking for that first star.
And I'd run back and say, "I see it!
I see it!"
And then we would, you know,
all gather around the table
and the very traditional sharing
of the wafer was the first thing,
you know, the first
thing that we did.
>> Laura Zeranski: Peter's mother
would always, when they were here
in the states, ordered her
communion wafer from Poland,
and where it was blessed.
And the wafer is a symbol of
love, friendship, and forgiveness,
and it's broken in pieces
and shared with each member
at the table wishing
them happiness and wishes
for a happy and healthy New Year.
>> Peter Zeranski: We
still do it every year.
Of course our daughter
and granddaughter,
who some of you saw earlier,
they're much more Americanized
and maybe the tradition is a little
more embarrassing than, you know,
than it used to be, but we do it.
And I think the older, you know, our
-- the next generation, you know,
gets the more they appreciate,
you know, traditions like that.
Along with Easter that Christmas
Eve supper, Wigilia, is probably one
of the most traditional
and anticipated, you know,
meals of the entire year.
Generations of Polish grandmas,
[inaudible], would prepare the food
for weeks and weeks
ahead of time just
for this one very special feast.
Now some of the traditions are
a little bit more modernized,
but they still live.
>> Laura Zeranski: And it's
customary to set an extra place
at the table for the lonely traveler
who may knock at the door, like Mary
and Joseph did at the
stable and at the inn.
Twelve dishes are usually
served for the 12 apostles.
Poppy seeds are always a
part of Christmas Eve supper
as they symbolize peacefulness.
And honey is always
there for sweetness.
>> Peter Zeranski: Our own menu
that we serve, still, every year,
is right out of our books.
The first course is clear
[inaudible], which is a beet soup.
And our version, or one of our
versions, is just a clear broth
and it's a very dark, ruby red,
it's got a lot of pepper in it
and it's served in the finest
china cups as part of an appetizer.
And right next to it, you
know, we serve crepes.
Alternatively -- we'll talk
about the crepes in a minute --
alternatively, you can also --
it's also traditional to
have a dried mushroom soup.
And, you know, it depends on, you
know, where your family comes from
and what, you know, what
your own preferences are.
But one year my aunt, my mother's
sister, who lived on the west coast
of Canada -- they separated
after they all immigrated,
my parents went east and they went
west out to Edmonton into Vancouver.
So they came and joined
us for Christmas.
And there became this big
argument, and it was an argument,
over what soup, you know, to serve.
Whether the [inaudible] or the
dried mushroom, you know, soup.
And my aunt Irene had
been serving --
and it was a tradition
in their family
to serve the dried mushroom soup.
Now it's delicious,
don't get me wrong,
but I'm used to what I'm used to.
You know? And I want
-- well, anyway.
So, they ended up debating
and debating
and there was a little
hollering and screaming,
but they ended up serving both.
>> Laura Zeranski: The other portion
of the appetizers Peter mentioned
is a crepe that's stuffed
with mushrooms and sauerkraut and a
little bit of egg, and this wrapped
in a -- this filling is wrapped
in the crepe, they're rolled,
tucked into like a little pocket,
and they're sauteed
in plenty of butter.
And our son and daughter --
or daughter and son-in-law
would be perfectly happy
if those were the only things that
they got for Christmas Eve dinner
because they're so delicious.
So I always make extras.
>> Peter Zeranski: So good.
[Inaudible] is a meatless dinner.
Traditionally a cold-water
fish like, you know, herring
or carp, was always served.
But for years -- it's a
little harder to get over here
so for years my mother would
buy a whole salmon in the season
when salmons were running
fresh and they were extra good.
She would buy the whole salmon,
freeze it in a block of ice,
and then just before
Wigilia melt the ice.
I mean it's just like
flash-freezing at Whole Foods.
You know. But then it would
melt, she would melt the ice
and then prepare the
salmon as part of our dish.
And it always had a lot
of dill on it and --
>> Laura Zeranski: Egg.
>> Peter Zeranski: And
chopped hard-boiled egg.
>> Laura Zeranski: And
there was also a dish --
>> Peter Zeranski: As a topping.
>> Laura Zeranski: Of noodles with
poppy seeds and a touch of honey.
It's just a nice, sweet touch
to go with the rest of dinner.
>> Peter Zeranski: So, no Wigilia,
no Christmas Eve dinner is complete
without the groaning
board of sweets.
And [inaudible] would prepare
the torts, and the cookies,
and the cakes, and the
tarts for weeks on end
because God knows they
loved their sweets.
And we all -- some of the
traditional sweets were
like kolaczki, which is a very
delicate, little dough square,
about this long and they're
kind of wrapped like an envelope
but the open ends are
open and they're filled
with different kinds of jam.
>> Laura Zeranski: And then many
of you are probably familiar
with angel-wing crisp or
[inaudible], the little fried pieces
of dough that are dusted
with powdered sugar.
Everybody loves those.
>> Peter Zeranski: Yeah, we always
did a nut-roll that is, you know,
I don't know how many of you
have seen a Polish nut-roll
but it's a big flat piece of dough
and then you've got a paste made
of poppy seeds, or nuts, depending
on which version you're doing,
and it's kind of rolled
up and then it's sliced.
I remember, I don't have a -- I
mean, I don't have a lot of memories
from when I was really very
young, but at like age maybe three
or four I remember waiting for
my dad to come home from work,
you know, and he was supposed --
that year my mother was making
a nut roll but he was supposed
to bring the poppy seed roll.
But they had an office party.
And so he brought the
poppy seed roll
and he had been carrying
it under his arm.
And I'm waiting for him
and I have this memory
of this little white picket fence
and I'm standing at the fence
and I'm watching him, you
know, walking down the sidewalk
and he's got this white
bag under his arm.
And when my mother
opened it, it was flat.
So she was pretty upset.
>> Laura Zeranski: For tradition's
sake we always have an old-fashioned
dried fruit compote.
Now, Peter's not a big fan of
it but for tradition we have it.
>> Peter Zeranski: So --
>> Laura Zeranski: And
then, the last piece
of it is the holiday
gingerbread or honey cake.
And this was -- the honey cake
was actually my first Polish
cooking attempt.
My mother-in-law assigned it to me
the first Christmas we were married
and I said, "Okay,
you know, it's a cake.
I mean, how hard can it be to make?"
So, the problem was I did
not have the right pan.
So I went to my mom's and -- or
I was going to go to my mom's
and make it and I thought, well,
I'll make the batter up before I go.
Well those of you who
bake know that baking soda
and baking powder don't
last very long.
So my cake turned out like this big.
It was hard as a brick
and Peter says,
"I don't think that's how
that's supposed to go."
So, took Mom's pan home, remade it,
it came out fine, and I was saved.
>> Peter Zeranski: The big deal,
you know, when you're a young child
at Christmas, of course, is
the opening of the gifts.
And they wouldn't let me open the
presents until after we sang carols.
So we, you know, we would
eat and then we would move
to the Christmas tree and we'd put
the Christmas carols on the stereo,
and the Polish ones were very
scratchy because they were,
you know, the old '78 RPM vinyl
records and had been, you know,
brought over from Poland.
And that was all right.
My parents tried their best to sing
but neither one of them could --
>> Laura Zeranski: Carry a tune.
>> Peter Zeranski: Carry a tune.
But then we'd, you know, bring
out the big bag for the trash
and we would open the gifts
and then we would move on.
And the next day, Christmas
day, we would always end
up at Christmas Mass,
you know, afterwards.
And the next day, Christmas
Day, is actually spent
as a very restful time just
visiting friends and, you know,
eating some cold cuts for,
you know, for the meal.
Easter is the most
religious of the holidays.
And the Saturday before
Easter always starts
with the blessing of the baskets.
And you take it to the church, you
know, with samplings of the food
that you're going to
serve and the priest,
you know, blesses the baskets.
And every basket would also
contain an Easter lamb or butter --
a Easter lamb, or butter, or
sugar, and the colored eggs
that were decorated, you know, so
traditionally in a Polish fashion.
>> Laura Zeranski: We were in Silver
Spring a couple years ago for one
of these Polish traditional
basket blessings.
>> Peter Zeranski: There's a
Polish church in Silver Spring.
>> Laura Zeranski: And we met a
young bride who had just married
into a Polish family and she was
looking at our cookbook and she came
across our poppy seed
tort that was in there.
And she just said, "Oh,
I have to make this."
And so she bought the book.
She took the book, made the
recipe, and she took pictures of it
because she was so proud
of how it turned out,
and she put them all over Facebook.
So, people love that
poppy seed cake.
>> Peter Zeranski: As I was saying,
the Easter meal is always full of,
you know, cold cuts and one
of the most interesting Polish
dishes is actually a garnish called
chiqua [assumed spelling], and it's
made out of crushed -- or chopped --
roughly chopped beets,
five parts beets
and one part raw horseradish
-- or prepared horseradish,
and a little bit of sugar.
And you mix it up and you let
it marinate for a little while,
and it is so good as a garnish with
any cold cuts, cold ham, you know,
cold meats or cold roast.
I mean we always keep a jar of
it, you know, in the refrigerator,
and I bring it out every now
and then and add horseradish
because it's got to stay fresh
and gives you that little tang.
We do a vegetable salad which
is incredibly easy to make.
My dad used to be the
one that absolutely loved
to make the vegetable salad.
All different kinds of
actually frozen vegetables,
it's been a little Americanized,
with some mayonnaise mixed
in it, a lot of dill on top.
>> Laura Zeranski:
Mustard, sour cream.
>> Peter Zeranski: Mustard and
sour cream, a little dill on top.
And so it's kind of a
cold meal that we serve
and you can eat it pretty
much whenever you want.
>> Laura Zeranski: And the
desserts are, again, a long list.
There is the mazurka, which is one
of the primary desserts of Easter.
And it's usually a shortbread crust.
And then there can be layers
of different toppings,
one of which is a --
there's a chocolate topping,
there's apricot, there's walnut.
There can be mixed fruits of
figs, and dates, and raisins.
But they're often intricate
designs put on them,
and they'll write Hallelujah on them
or they'll put pussy willows in --
made out of nuts and
different icing maybe.
And then there are cheesecakes.
>> Peter Zeranski: Well
the cheesecakes are --
there's like 14 different
varieties of cheesecakes.
But there's a secret
ingredient in a couple of them
that I'll bet you can't guess.
Anybody have an idea?
Secret ingredient in cheesecake
that makes it extra fluffy.
Its mashed potatoes.
Say what?
[ Inaudible Speaker ]
Brownies? No it's not brownies.
>> Laura Zeranski: Mashed potatoes.
>> Peter Zeranski: Mashed potatoes.
Just a little bit of
mashed potatoes, you know,
in the cheese mix just makes it,
you know, extra, extra fluffy.
One of the recipes in our book
is a replication of the tort
that my mom made when they were
in the displaced persons
camp, you know, in Germany.
Now, my mother was a person of
privilege, you know, before the war,
and they always had housekeepers
in the house and she never had
to wash dishes or make the bed.
But life is different when you're
in a displaced person's
camp after the war.
There is no privilege.
So when my mom and dad decided
to get married she actually baked
her own cake for the first time
in her life, using a recipe for
a black walnut cake that she got
from her landlady, and she grew
her bridal bouquet, you know.
>> Laura Zeranski: Cyclamens.
>> Peter Zeranski: Cyclamens,
right, that was her favorite flower.
And I found the photographs,
her wedding photographs,
all three of them, you know, in
an album that she had prepared,
you know, for us of
our family history.
So, I pulled those out and
I actually found the recipe
for the black walnut cake and in
the book we replicated the photo
of the cake and her bridal
bouquet and we added a little bit
of sepia next to it
to make it look old.
And it's right next to
the original photographs.
So if you pick up our dessert
book it's a really cool story
and it's absolutely
a delicious cake.
When we were in Poland
our son-in-law fell
in love with papal cream cakes.
>> Laura Zeranski: Papal cream
cakes, in case you aren't familiar
with the story, back in 1999
the Pope had made a visit --
Pope John Paul, had made
a visit to his hometown
and he just made an offhand
comment about his favorite dessert
from when he was a child, and it
was these layers of pastry dough
with pastry filling
in between the layers,
and it's just really
light and flaky.
And he used to buy them with
his friends after school
in the marketplace as
they were coming home.
And so the day after he made
this announcement everybody
in Poland was making them in
the cafes and the bakeries
and they were selling everywhere.
Well our son-in-law
had his first one
when we visited the
Pope's boyhood home,
and he had to have one every place
we went in Poland and sometimes two,
three, and four times a day.
>> Peter Zeranski: The day
did not start until he went
and found a bakery, you know,
and brought the white box
home with these cakes.
I want to tell you another funny
story and then we're going to shift
to some questions and answers.
When we were making -- when we
were shooting the photography
for the fruit-filled crepes,
Laura was out of town.
She was down visiting
her mom who was ill.
And we started making the crepes
and the lights were kind of hot
and the crepes just would not
-- they would not hold up.
It was essentially a roll
with a cheese-type filling.
And it was warm and we
didn't get the filling right,
somehow it didn't work.
And she was gone and I was on my
own, just me and the food stylist
and the photographer and
frankly I didn't have a clue.
So we made up some mashed potatoes
and we rolled them in the crepes,
poured the fruit topping on top of
it, and I guarantee you if you look
at the picture you're not going
to be able to tell the difference.
[ Laughter ]
So, Polish cuisine really is not
as mainstream as French or Italian,
but I got to tell you, it's
every bit as delicious.
And most of the recipes in
our books are not difficult.
They've all been tested for success.
Our neighbors were
very happy with us
when we were testing all the
recipes, because you know,
we couldn't eat them all.
So, if you try these recipes,
if you try some Polish cuisine,
I guarantee you that
they're going to bring smiles
around your table and
you'll be a winner.
So, we'll be pleased to take some
questions if anybody has any.
There's two microphones, one
on each side, or just yell it
out and we'll repeat them.
Yes, sir?
>> Hello, when I was growing
up in Brooklyn, New York,
my mother from time to
time would make czarnina.
I wondered if you have
a favorite recipe.
>> Peter Zeranski: Yeah.
My favorite recipe doesn't include
duck blood soup -- duck blood.
Czarnina, for those of you who are
uninitiated, is duck blood soup.
And it's very, very traditional
but it goes back to, you know,
the farms when you could get the
blood, you know, of the duck,
you know, and kind of
twist the neck and --
>> Laura Zeranski: The fresh.
>> Peter Zeranski:
I got to tell you,
but you know what's really
interesting, in today's world
of blogs and websites, I look at
some of the keywords that people use
to come to our website and czarnina
is the single greatest number
of hits --
>> Laura Zeranski:
We've ever gotten.
>> Peter Zeranski: That we've
ever gotten on the website.
It's amazing.
www.polishclassiccooking.com.
That's a plug.
Yes, ma'am?
>> Oh, hi.
I just would like to know what
it's like to collaborate as husband
and wife on such a
big project like this.
>> Peter Zeranski: You go first.
>> Laura Zeranski: Well,
it's a balancing act.
Each of us had our roles.
Mine was to test the
recipes and to, you know,
make them all pretty
for the photographers.
Peter's jobs were to edit the book,
do a lot of the writing, and --
>> Peter Zeranski: Tasting.
>> Laura Zeranski: Tasting, the
dishes, those kinds of things.
>> Peter Zeranski: The dishes.
>> Laura Zeranski:
But it worked okay.
>> Peter Zeranski: The dishes.
>> Laura Zeranski: The
days that were difficult --
>> Peter Zeranski: The dishes.
>> Laura Zeranski: -- were the days
we were filming because, you know,
you often get into a little
contention about what looks better,
you know, what angle looks better,
what food looks better, you know.
And so we did have a little --
but we came out of it pretty well.
>> Peter Zeranski: We
came out of it pretty well
but we decided it was going to be
a while before we did another book.
I didn't have a divorced
lawyer and -- yes, ma'am?
>> I was wondering what kind
of alcoholic beverages are
typical for Polish food.
>> Peter Zeranski: I'm
glad you asked that.
The last page of recipes in this
book is called "Adult Beverages,"
and it was my favorite page.
One of the recipes
in there that's one
of my favorite is a
chocolate cream liquor.
And it's based on vodka, and
it's got some cream in it
and a little chocolate syrup.
It's not very complicated.
But when we had a book
release party and we had some
of our older friends, you know,
come and congratulate us,
they asked for straws.
And when you're supposed to serve it
in these little liquor glasses they
were drinking six ounce tumblers.
This stuff was so good.
Another one that I really
like is called [inaudible],
which is really so simple to make.
You just take a little jar of
cherries, pour a little sugar
over it, pour some vodka to the
top of the jar, close it up,
put it away for three
months, and then when --
and bring it back and all those
flavors have melded together.
So good. Yes, sir?
>> Afternoon.
My grandfather was from East
Poland and my grandmother was
from Central Poland, and I'm
sure in your book you have a lot
of different recipes
from different areas.
So what I was wondering is when
you're dealing with a recipe
in your book that is
multiple interpretations
of different areas did
you guys usually try
to mix the recipes together to see
how it would work or you would try
to really stick to one region's
traditional aspect of it?
>> Laura Zeranski: We tried to
stick with one traditional recipe
that we're most familiar with
and ones that we knew were tried
and tested and would be successful
for anybody who tried to make them.
>> Peter Zeranski: I
think if there's any way
to describe our recipes,
there the classics.
You know, we tried to stay away
from regional interpretations
because they would be less
familiar for somebody who, you know,
who came from a family
from a different region.
So we stayed with the middle
of the road classics that --
and then anybody, you know, who
might have their own spin on it,
and it's perfectly fine,
you know, to do that.
But we stayed with the classics.
>> Thank you very much.
>> Peter Zeranski: You're welcome.
>> Laura Zeranski: You're welcome.
>> Peter Zeranski: Yes, ma'am?
>> How were you able to
adapt the Polish cheeses?
You know, farmer's cheese is not --
that's my thing when
making the desserts.
Or also the Polish,
you know, sweet creams
and the sour creams and all of that.
>> Laura Zeranski: The Polish
cheeses are a little different.
We did -- we were able to find
oftentimes the Polish cheeses
at the Russian gourmets
or the Polish --
>> Peter Zeranski: Kielbasa factory.
>> Laura Zeranski: Kielbasa
factory which is in Rockville,
they have a lot of those.
But we've also used, on occasion,
used ricotta cheese in some
of the recipes by draining
it and letting it sit.
Or we were able to use
farmer's cheese a lot.
I have to say, even I've used --
I have to say, occasionally on a
last minute, used cream cheese,
the Philadelphia Cream Cheese.
It's not as good, it
doesn't have the body,
and it doesn't have the same flavor,
but if you're in a pinch it'll work.
>> Peter Zeranski: But the farmer's
cheese is actually fairly available.
You can get it at your
more upscale grocery stores
like Whole Foods or Balducci's.
Fairly commonly Giant carries it
sometimes around the holidays.
And certainly the eastern European
delis almost always have it.
But the point that I think is
important is that we wanted
to only include recipes
with ingredients
that are readily available so
that you didn't have to go online
and find some strange flavoring or
something out of the mainstream.
Any others?
Yes, sir?
>> During your presentation
you mentioned a fish dish.
[Inaudible] carp.
>> Peter Zeranski: Yes.
>> Carp in the United States
isn't a terribly popular --
>> Peter Zeranski: That's right.
>> Fish.
>> Peter Zeranski: That's right.
>> I was wondering is
there a special way
of preparing a carp dish?
>> Peter Zeranski:
So the question is
since carp is not a terribly
favorite fish in the US,
is there a special
way of preparing it.
And I think the two or three
recipes for fish that we have
in our first book, Classic
Recipes , they're not so special
or especially indigenous
to one type of fish,
but any white fish
can be substituted.
You know, there's a recipe with
a little breading and some cheese
on top of it, which is, you
know, pretty simple to make.
>> Laura Zeranski: And carp
would work fine with that.
>> Peter Zeranski: Or
not if you can't get it.
>> Laura Zeranski: Yeah,
if you can't find it.
We use cod a lot for
that particular dish.
And then there's another
one in there that's --
usually I'll use flounder for or
sole, because it's very delicate.
But you could use a thicker
type filet for it as well.
>> Peter Zeranski: Yes, ma'am?
>> Hi, my Polish grandmother
was a professional baker
and she used lard in
almost everything.
Do you use lard or you
use something else?
>> Peter Zeranski: No, ma'am?
No lard.
>> Laura Zeranski: No lard.
Lots of butter [laughter],
but no lard in anything.
The only time we've used
lard would be to fry.
>> Peter Zeranski:
But we don't use lard.
And, again, when Laura tested all
these recipes and we talked about,
you know, bringing them updated
for, you know, making them updated
for modern kitchens, the idea
is to update them for, you know,
more modern kitchen
techniques as well.
I mean, I know that lard use,
you know, was big in Europe
and in some cases still is, but you
can substitute for lard, you know,
and still retain the
flavors, and so we've always
in our recipes presented,
you know, the options,
sometimes maybe a little healthier.
Lards not, you know,
cardiologists love lard, you know.
Anymore?
>> Laura Zeranski:
Any other questions?
>> Peter Zeranski: Well
thank you for coming.
I'll just -- the cover,
there wasn't any room.
Normally I would have
had these up here.
This is the dessert book that
we talked about the most today.
>> Laura Zeranski: Which has a very
iconic dessert on the front of it.
>> Peter Zeranski: These are
paczki, they're filled donuts.
Traditionally they're filled
with a rosehip jam in Poland,
and that's why we have the
roses on the, you know,
on the cover of the book.
And this book's available,
you know, for purchase,
you know, down in the buying area.
And then our first book is
Polish Classic Recipes ,
and this is hunter's stew
on the cover, which is --
>> Laura Zeranski: Which
is one of the dishes
that somebody mentioned, the bigos?
>> Peter Zeranski: Bigos, right.
Hunter's stew.
>> Laura Zeranski:
This is hunter's stew.
>> Peter Zeranski: It's a delicious
sauerkraut base with different kinds
of meat in it, and
it's just absolute.
This one was not available, you
know, here at the convention center
but you can buy either of
these books autographed
through our website ,or you
know, any bookseller, or Amazon,
un-autographed obviously.
So these books are available
pretty widely, like 150 websites
around the country -- around
the world actually I should say.
So, thank you very much for coming.
[Applause] We appreciate it.
[ Applause ]
>> This has been a presentation
of the Library of Congress.
Visit us at loc.gov.